Whether you're cleaning up after your own pet or you're moving into a new place where pets used to live, vinegar is a surefire way to get rid of any lingering pet odors in the floors or carpet. Over at Apartment Therapy, contractor John Gleeson Connolly explains how well it really works.

Connolly went to the hardware store and got a simple pump sprayer that you'd use for pesticide, fertilizer, or just about any other thin liquid, and filled it with vinegar. His problem was pretty bad, so he sprayed the floors and the subfloors with vinegar, and let it evaporate over the course of a few days. The vinegar neutralized the pet odor nicely—better than some of the chemicals designed for the purpose that he had previously tried. Connolly also notes in the video above that it worked, but it wasn't a perfect fix, so he got up under his home and sprayed the vents and the woodwork under the floor, and that took care of the problem once and for all.

You probably don't have to go to such great effort in your home (we hope), but if you do, at least you know vinegar will do the trick. We're willing to bet that if you're just moving into a place and it still smells like the dog or cat that used to live there, a good spray down with vinegar in the corners, floorboards, and carpets will take care of it. If you really want, rent a carpet cleaner and use vinegar in that. It's remarkable what vinegar can do—but then, we do list it often as one of the best ways to de-stink just about anything.